MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Worcester, Massachusetts, was famous in the 1800s for being the leading producer of wire for the country. Liz Neisloss went to the city to see what's made there now and how today's manufacturers are dealing with shifting tariffs.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRAIN HORN BLOWING)
LIZ NEISLOSS, BYLINE: At this rail yard in Worcester, I'm watching a hulking freight locomotive on the move. Freight trains still crisscross this city, going over rusting bridges. One bridge near me says, building America. These trains are mostly connecting goods to the rest of the country, and they're not as critical to manufacturing in this city like decades ago when Worcester was cranking out wire and paper-making machines.
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NEISLOSS: Not far from the train tracks is one of Worcester's newer manufacturers. In an old industrial neighborhood with boarded-up brick mill buildings, Multiscale Systems is designing and making custom parts used for precision manufacturing.
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NEISLOSS: CEO Jesse Silverberg purchased an old machining business and invested in high-tech equipment.
JESSE SILVERBERG: Precision metal is precision metal, and it shows up in all sorts of use cases in the manufactured world.
NEISLOSS: He points out molds for making maple syrup containers and parts needed to make components for nuclear reactors.
JOHN BROWN: This kind of work is an echo of what was being made in Worcester during the heydays.
NEISLOSS: Economist John Brown has studied the manufacturing history of Worcester, and he sees a business like Multiscale as its future. But he says Trump's tariffs destroy the system they rely on.
BROWN: You have different suppliers in different countries specializing in producing elements of sophisticated supply chains, and you impose these kinds of tariffs and try to incite a trade war. You're basically assuming that the world doesn't work like it actually does. There's no sense behind it.
(SOUNDBITE OF METAL TINKLING)
NEISLOSS: Multiscale employee Paul Lavalee is at an older machine. He's worked in manufacturing for over 40 years and doesn't think people realize what's changed.
PAUL LAVALEE: I don't think they always think of how - you know, how many things it takes to make a product. Things are coming from across the world. It wasn't always that way.
(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINERY WHIRRING)
NEISLOSS: Manufacturing engineer Ray Cerro is perfecting a part with a metal 3D printer.
RAY CERRO: So you have these other alloys that often have a primary component that America might do fine with, but still relying on other countries for that little piece of the puzzle that makes those materials unique. So it's hard to get around that.
NEISLOSS: There's been plenty of focus on steel and aluminum, but many U.S. manufacturers need another metal - tungsten. Eighty percent of the world's tungsten comes from China. It's essential to many of the tools Multiscale buys. Silverberg shows me an advanced cutting tool made with tungsten.
SILVERBERG: One of the things that I find myself wondering and worrying about is, are we going to have enough of these?
NEISLOSS: Silverberg says some customers have put orders on hold, waiting to see where tariffs land. Timothy Murray, CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, says, in recent years, the city's drawn new companies, like biomanufacturing, but tariff uncertainty is throwing a wrench in the works.
TIMOTHY MURRAY: There is a real nervousness and, I think, caution that is taking place among our manufacturers, which is not likely to lead to significant growth and jobs at this juncture until there's better clarity on what the end result is here, which is anybody's guess.
NEISLOSS: To bring manufacturing back to Worcester, Murray says, you need a reliable supply chain.
For NPR News, I'm Liz Neisloss in Worcester. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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